The gardener's eye

The Gardener's Eye

Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Tree Work in the Woodland Garden

I had some professional pruning done on the two oak trees (Quercus rubra) in the woodland garden. I wrote about these two trees last fall when a neighbor had another enormous oak tree removed down the street. My trees are much younger but needed to be limbed up in order to let more light into my woodland garden. The understory trees have also been getting larger and were bumping heads with the oak trees.

This is a before picture of the smaller oak in the woodland garden which also overhangs the Lower Garden

You can see how the lower branches were removed to give the stewartia in the Lower Garden more room to grow.

A view from the Terrace

Close up of the pruned limbs.

The before picture of the larger oak tree.

The after picture. You can see the Heptacodium tree beyond the shed which now has more light.

A view from the woodland garden. Dan Tremblay, the aborist did a beautiful job creating space in the oak's canopy for the Katsura tree in the woodland garden and the Heptacodium on the Lower Garden level.

Another view from the house of the pruned oak tree limb.

Pruning these trees was very complicated for my aborist, Dan Tremblay of Broad Oak Tree and Shrub Care. My property is quite small, about a third of an acre, and is on a steep hill. Getting the branches safely to the ground and off the property without disturbing the woodland garden was the biggest challenge. I had to get permission from my neighbor to get the debris out of the garden. Fortunately, she was very cooperative and Dan and his crew left both of properties in perfect condition. I have been planning to have this work done for several years. Now I can focus my efforts on developing the woodland garden.

12 comments:

I remember that post last fall. I love the silhouette of a properly pruned tree. I was just at a clients house a week or two ago where her husband had topped all the trees on the property with a chain saw.

Michael, I've noticed often how trees grow together, how one will fill the other's gaps, or lean to get some vantage. It's necessary sometimes for the gardener to intervene. You and your arborist have done so excellently.

Dan and I spent quite a lot of time determining exactly which limbs should go to give the light and space required but to also look natural in the end. As I mentioned to James, I am ready to get working on the plants below. Thanks for commenting, Dave.

A good tree surgeon is worth their weight in gold, Michael. You obviously have found yourself a good one. So many trees at the Priory have been butchered over the years that I'm really pleased to have found someone who actually knows what they're doing. D

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About Me

I am an optometrist by profession. I designed and maintained public gardens in Peterborough, NH for nearly two decades. I host garden tours of English Gardens for a tour company called Discover Europe. In 2016, I led a new tour that I designed called The Passionate Gardener. This blog is a chronicle of my gardening adventures.